An ever-challenging landscape
Learn how this Kansas gardener transformed his challenging landscape with structural conifers, regenerative annuals, and a beautiful rain garden that helps control erosion.
Changes in the garden and adapting to change
When Joyce and John Householder moved into their Kansas home in 1988, they didn't inherit a garden—mostly grass and a few bushes. But with a lot of hard work, Joyce transforms this blank slate into the ultimate relief from everyday life.
He prefers a relaxed approach to gardening and allows plants to grow where they want, creating beds and borders full of life and color. Learn about the challenges he faced and walk through this unique and resilient garden. For an added bonus, you can take a virtual tour of the gardens with Joyce in the Talk & Tour video above!
Build a structure with retaining walls
Enlisting the help of neighbors and friends, the couple tore out existing junipers (Juniperus communis) and railroad ties and cut the original walkway leading to the front door. Then they brought in topsoil, leveled three-story beds 12 to 20 feet wide and 5 to 12 feet deep, and installed limestone retaining walls to retain the soil. These beds hold spring and summer blooming colorful perennials such as coreopsis (Coreopsis spp. and hybrids), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), salvia (Salvia nemorosa), and baptisia (Baptisia spp. and hybrids). Shrubs and small trees such as panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), drift roses (Rosa hybrid), and Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) add structure and background year-round. Then they installed second terraces that curved over the driveway in the side yard. They used two sizes of limestone to create two 20-foot-long beds and allowed ground cover (Sedum spp.) in the spaces between the stones and at the base of the front 6-foot-high wall. Walk up the steps and you'll be in the backyard.
Gardening is unpredictable
A few years ago a tornado passed between this property and the next one. Although the house was standing and their family was unscathed, it took out a flowering crabapple (Malus spp. and hybrids) and hibiscus tree (Cercis canadensis) near the house and the roof of the work shed. The result is a littered yard and very different growing conditions in the front terrace beds. After the hurricane, the perennials near the front entrance were suddenly in full sun. Bear's breeches (Acanthus spinosus) and daylilies (Hemerocallis spp. and hybrids) have not flowered well for many years.
Take advantage of microclimates in your garden
Stone retaining walls store heat from the sun and can create additional warmth for garden beds. This zone 5 garden usually has a microclimate in a sheltered spot next to the garage to experiment with plants like the hardy banana (Musa basjoo). As a master gardener, Joyce likes to try new things and expand her gardening skills and finds a way to overcome the usually tough banana in the ground. It makes a statement and is one of the first things people see when they pull into the driveway.
4 Easy Steps to Freeze Bananas
Here's how Joyce preserves his bananas in winter. This technique can work for many plants that aren't typically cold-hardy enough for your garden.
After the first frost, cut the banana back to 1 foot from the soil.
Tie a 3- to 4-foot-tall chicken wire or hardware cloth fence around the remaining stems.
Add a few granular high-nitrogen fertilizers to the soil for energy next spring, and surround the plant with organic mulch such as bark or leaves.
Remove the mulch after the danger of frost has passed and you should see new growth.
More slope solutions
The steep slope caused more problems for Joyce than the cut and affected his entire lot, which also collected water from neighboring houses. Rainwater ran off from all sides of the yard, eroding the soil and collecting at the bottom of the driveway.
Smart Erosion Solution: Install a permeable driveway
The first project Joyce and John tackled to solve this problem was to make part of their driveway permeable. A section towards the top of their long drive was Removed, install a layer of sand, laid pavers in a fun pattern, then filled with pea gravel. This allows some rain to drain into the soil as it runs down the driveway.
Add a rain garden
However, a permeable driveway does not capture all of the water. In addition, Joyce took advantage of a local rain garden grant program to install a 35×15-foot rain garden in a low spot at the bottom of the driveway. This bed holds the flow of water until it is absorbed back into the ground. Notice how the water stagnates before soaking into the soil in the photo directly above? This photo was taken the morning after the storm.
Creating a rain garden helps reduce water pollution and prevent flooding, while also providing beneficial habitat for wildlife. It's an attractive solution to a very attractive problem. The spot was already sitting in a ditch, but to make the bed, they dug a little more and then mixed in a layer of heavy clay soil to help prevent soil erosion. Finally, starting with a list of recommended native plants from their municipality, they planted the bed with perennials and shrubs that thrive in heavy, moist soil and tolerate drying out when rainfall is low.
Rain garden plants
Plants that are a good choice for a rain garden have extensive root systems that absorb water quickly, prevent erosion, and retain moisture during dry periods.
Amsonia Amsonia tabernaemontana
Pale blue flowers from late spring to early summer; full sun to part shade; 2 to 3 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
Copper iris Iris fulva
Copper-colored flowers in early summer; full sun to part shade; 2 to 3 ft. tall, 1 to 2 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9 (above)
Gray-headed coneflower Ratibida pinnata
Tall yellow flowers with prominent center “cones” in summer; full sun; 24 to 48 in. tall, 18 to 24 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium maculatum
Pink blooms from midsummer to fall; full sun to part shade; 3 to 7 ft. tall, 2 to 4 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
Maiden grass Miscanthus sinensis
Silver, bronze, pink, copper, tan, or burgundy plumes from late summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 1 to 12 ft. tall, 1 to 6 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
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